MISERY

Misery

Iona Potapov speak.

Tell us your story.

Tell us about your son.

Forget those who are too busy to care.

Too busy to listen.

Your mare might be an animal -- but what are those that ride in your sled and don't even pretend to feel any sympathy?

And unfortunately -- this is our world.

Iona the sledge-driver who has just seen his son die does not matter.

Nobody will listen to him.

We are too busy Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Or Lamar Odom.

And our government policies follow suit. They are designed to help the well-to-do.

Not Iona the sledge-driver who has just seen his son die.

Not the unemployed mother who can't afford to feed her kids.

And the countless others out there in towns  and cities all over this country -- those who don't have a glamorous job -- who struggle every day just to get by.

No one listens -- not only don't they listen -- they don't care.

They keep taking away whatever little they have and that's supposed to help us balance our budget -- help us solve our fiscal problems.

I'm sorry -- you probably don't care what I'm saying right now either -- so -- I guess I should just tell it to my dog.

Wait a minute . . . my dog is sleeping.

And all she cares about are Greenies.

Chekhov is right. This is our world.

We didn't become the dominant creature on the planet by caring about what ails Iona the Cabman.

Just ask the Neanderthals -- who were minding their own business until we got in their face and wiped them out.

Human survival depends on us being clever -- cunning -- aggressive and ultimately -- heartless.

That said -- Iona Potapov please tell us your story.

Shout it out to the world.

A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN

A Nervous Breakdown

Law student wants to do right.

Wants to help women who are being exploited.

Women who live in brothels.

But how?

But why?

Is he too sensitive?

Do these women really want his help?

Can one man cure what ails society?

Is that always a good thing?

History is fraught with individuals who thought they could save the world and ending up causing great harm.

But what do you do when you see something that is wrong?

Do you just accept it and move on?

What if your temperament is so sensitive that you can't let it go?

Do you inflict pain on yourself?

Are there answers to these questions?

You decide.

THE SCHOOLMISTRESS

The Schoolmistress

Alone.

Corruption all around.

Day after day.

Year after year.

Older and older.

No hope for anything better.

You wonder how you got into this fix.

Teaching might seem noble from the outside.
 
From the outside.

From the inside you understand the toll the daily grind takes --

Idealists drop like flies.

Realists fight to endure.

All around you there is incompetence and greed . . .

No one really values what you do.

No one gives you support.

Finally you're left with the examinations.

And so it goes.

For a brief moment you see a reflection of what might've been.

For that brief moment you taste happiness.

Until reality sets in.

And you're back to being a schoolmistress.

Back to getting older and older.

Back to being alone.

A TRIVIAL INCIDENT

A Trivial Incident

Prince Sergey Ivanitch could've been very wealthy instead of barely getting by.

But he had to lie.

Pretend to say he loved the ugly princess.

But he was too honest.

So he blew it.

Now he's got the truth and no dinner.

He has his good name but he might lose his estate.

He told the truth and most took advantage of him.

The fool on the hill.

And why exactly did he reject the princess?

Was it solely on looks?

Did he think himself superior?

Now you have a  princess with lots of money and very little happiness.

And an honest prince who needs to work on his résumé.

True that!

A GENTLEMAN FRIEND

A Gentleman Friend

Where there's a will there's a way.

Vanda needs clothes -- needs style -- needs to live well.

Just out of the hospital with nothing but a ring which she pawns for a ruble -- she has to employ her charms to get back in the game.

But like Batman sans cape -- she just doesn't have the same bravado without the fancy apparel -- she goes to a dentist  she's familiar with -- one who has enjoyed her attention -- a converted Jew -- who Chekhov still refers to as a Jew. (Does Chekhov subscribe to the idea that once a Jew always a Jew -- it's in the blood -- something the Nazis believed? Let's hope not.)

Vanda loses a tooth to Finkel the dentist and her ruble -- he pulls out her tooth in an unsanitary procedure -- was this the customary ways that dentists worked back then? -- or is this an indictment against Jews for being unclean?(In Spain -- the converted Jews of the Inquisition were referred to as Marranos which translated to pigs).

Vanda doesn't let this discourage her -- within a matter of hours -- she has figured out how to live la Vida Loca again.

Men are easy prey to the charms of a willing lady or are women victims of a society that forces them to rely on their sex for advantage?

Who knows?

Vanda isn't a sociologist -- she just wants to party and party she will.

BAD WEATHER

Bad Weather

A cheating lawyer.

Some things never change.

Last night I saw the movie -- The Lincoln Lawyer.

Kvashin would've liked his style.

Not so his mother-in law.

Eventually she'll realize that there's

20, 000 rubles down the drain.

ZINOTCHKA

Zinotchka

A tender hate story.

Love always gets the credit.

Makes the world go round.

But this story delightfully deals with hate.

Hate can be just as powerful as love.

Just as intoxicating.

And once you fall in hate -- it might take a long time to come out of it.

Maybe you stay in hate forever.

So beware by your actions that you don't provoke someone to hate you.

They may become fond of the feeling and may never want to give it up.

Coincidentally after reading Zinotchka  I read an article about the artist Lucius Freud who died Wednesday night. He hadn't spoken to his brother Clement for over fifty years and supposedly the hatred begun with a childhood racing contest.

Chekhov is always timely.